hargrove. [ BILLY HARGROVE 2 ]

iv. CHAPTER TWO

~*~
Chapter One: The Hellfire Club

     Billy dropped his duffle bag on the front porch of the trailer home, knocking a couple of times. He took a deep breath as he swayed back and forth. Moments later, a hungover looking Susan answered the door and forced a smile. 

     "Billy! It's nice to see you dear. Spring break already?" she asked, pulling him in for a hug. 

     "Yeah, wanted to get out of there as soon as possible," he joked, letting go and grabbing his bag. "Max here? Was hoping I could give her a ride to school." 

     "Just left about ten minutes ago, I'm sorry," Susan said. "Would you like some breakfast? I can whip something up." 

     "No thanks, I think I'm going to get going to the pep rally. Some old basketball teammates were looking for my support," Billy responded. "Really wish I could of grabbed Max. I guess... I'll see you for dinner tonight." 

     "If I'm back. You and Max might have to make yourselves something if that's okay," Susan said, beginning to putter around the kitchen. 

     "That's okay. I'm going to get going so I can make it on time. I'll see you later," Billy waved. He walked out of the trailer, seeing the neighbor across from them was also walking out of his house. Eddie Munson. He was a senior Billy's junior year. Now he's a senior Billy's freshmen year of college. Billy had always seen him as a deadbeat, but Mary said not to judge him as he was going to be one of her little brother's only friends in high school. Which she hated to think about but was true. 

     "Morning, Hargrove," Eddie called. "Looking fantastic." 

     "Munson," Billy said. He got in his car, turning on his music and speeding away towards the high school. 

~*~

     Billy sauntered into the pep rally, greeted by waves from people he'd see in the hallways or that he didn't even remember meeting. A few teachers shook his hand before he took his spot standing against the bleachers and watching the cheerleaders. They finished their set, the basketball team running onto the court. Everyone was cheering for them, Billy looking up into the stands to find Max. He saw her standing with Mike and Dustin, and he looked away quickly. 

     "And let's hear it for your Tigers! Whoo!" Jason yelled, Billy looking back at him. Jason had been a junior his senior year, and was kind of in the background when all of the drama happened with him and Alex Gold. "Good morning, Hawkins High!" Everyone cheered again, then quieted down after a couple seconds. "First off... Hey. First off, I'd like to thank each and every one of you. Without your support, we wouldn't be here. Give yourselves a big hand." There was more clapping, Billy rolling his eyes in frustration. "And of course, of course, I have to give a special shout-out to the best and the prettiest fans of all time, the Tiger Cheer Squad." They shook their pom-poms, Jason holding up a hand. "Chrissy... Chrissy, I love you, babe." 

     "Jesus, fuck," Billy mumbled, crossing his arms. 

     "You know... I think I can speak for all of us when I say it's been a tough year for Hawkins. So much loss. And sometimes I wonder, 'How much loss can one community take?'" Jason asked, looking around the bleachers. "In dark days like this, we need something to believe in. So, last night, when we were down by ten points at half to Christian Academy, I looked at my team, and I said, 'Think of Jack. Think of Melissa. Think of Heather. Think of Mary.'" Billy stared at him, fists clenching harder as he looked up to Max again. They made eye contact, Max looking away quickly. "'Think about our heroic police chief, Jim Hopper. Think about every one of our friends who perished in that fire. What did they die for? For us to lose to some... some crap school? No.'" Billy scoffed, even though the rest of the crowd said 'no'. "'For us to return home with our heads hung low in defeat? No! No. Let's win this game. Let's win this game for them.' And that's exactly what we did!" Everyone began cheering, Billy wanting to leave the gymnasium after that speech. "We embarrassed those candy-asses in their own house, and now tonight, tonight, we're gonna bring home the championship trophy! Let's go!"

     The stands cheered again, Jason setting the mic back on the stand as the team began to cheer with each other. After a couple of minutes, he turned and saw Billy waiting for him. He jogged over, Billy taking a couple of steps forward. 

     "Hargrove! So great to see you here," he said, pulling him into a hug. Billy just nodded in response, stepping back from him. "Speech remind you of the old days?" 

     "Yeah, except I didn't use my girlfriends death as motivation to win a basketball game," Billy responded. Jason stuttered for a minute. 

     "I-I'm sorry, man. I really am. I didn't think about it like that," he said quickly. 

     "It's... fine, dude. You still want me to come out tonight?" Billy asked, Jason nodding. 

     "Would be great support. Steve's coming out, too. Whole schools gonna be there, man," he said. "You remember winning last year." 

     "Yeah, I do," Billy nodded. A flash of Mary breaking up with him ran through his head, before he shrugged and looked at Jason again. "I'll see you then." 

     "See you then, man," he said, hitting his shoulder and running back to the team. Billy turned to go talk to Max, but she was already out of the auditorium. 

~*~

     After lunch, Max was making her way to the counselor's office. That night may have fucked Billy up, but Max was a grade A overthinker. She'd thought a lot about that night at Starcourt. She'd thought about how if she'd just thought a few seconds sooner, Mary would still be alive and Billy would be happy. Granted, Max would have died but... Billy would at least have Mary. But that's not what happened. She turned into the counselor's office, dropping her bag and sitting. 

     "Can you remove your headphones, please?" the counselor asked. Max paused the song, pulling her headphones off. 

     "Sorry," she stated. 

     "A 'C' in English and a 'C-minus' in Spanish," Ms. Kelly said, Max shrugging. 

     "Yeah." 

     "Well, that's not normal for you," she said. 

     "If you say so," Max replied, looking around. 

     "How's your mom holding up?" Ms. Kelly asked, setting her papers down. 

    "She's fine. I mean, she hates our new place, which is, like... Yeah, it's terrible, but... She's fine," Max told her, Ms. Kelly nodding once. 

     "Is she still drinking?" she asked. 

     "Like, yeah, a little, but... Well, she's working two jobs. So it's not easy," Max defended her quickly. 

     "It must not be easy for you either with your stepdad gone," Ms. Kelly said with a slight nod. 

     "It's kind of better, honestly," Max shrugged. 

    "Better how?" Ms. Kelly asked. Max thought back to the number of times Neil had hit Billy. 

     "He was an asshole," she simply stated. "So, there's less assholery." 

     "I know your stepbrother is coming into town this week for Spring Break. Are you looking forward to that?" Ms. Kelly asked, slightly perking up. 

     "He's either going to mope around or pretend like nothing happened, so... no," Max answered, Ms. Kelly nodding. 

     "Are you sleeping better?" she asked. 

     "Yeah, fine," Max shrugged. 

     "No more headaches? Nightmares?" she pressed on. Max zoned out for a moment. 

     "Mary!" Max screamed, her eyes going to Billy diving in front of Mary. 

     "Nope," Max answered. 

     "Max?" Ms. Kelly said. Max didn't respond, her leg continuing to bounce. "What you've been through, what you're still going through, it's a lot for anyone. And it's okay to not be okay. But I can only help you if you're truthful, if you open up to me. 

     "Yeah, I... I know. I'm... I'm being open," Max said quickly, then sighed. "I'm being open."